Titans Split Another Doubleheader With Pointers
The UW-Oshkosh baseball team scored five runs during the 11th inning of the nightcap to secure a doubleheader split at UW-Stevens Point on Sunday (April 9).
UW-Oshkosh (10-10, 2-2 WIAC) outlasted UW-Stevens Point, 11-6 in 11 innings, during the second contest after the Pointers defeated the Titans by a 4-0 score in the opener.
UW-Stevens Point (9-9, 2-2 WIAC) also split a doubleheader with the Titans on Saturday (April 8) as UW-Oshkosh outscored the Pointers, 19-16, during the four-game series.
In Sunday's second game, UW-Oshkosh scored four runs in the top of the first inning, but UW-Stevens Point claimed a 6-4 advantage in the fifth.
The Titans knotted the score at 6 with single runs in both the sixth and eighth innings before erupting for five runs on four hits and three walks during the 11th.
UW-Oshkosh's Zack Radde went 4-for-6 with three runs batted in, including a game-tying RBI single in the eighth inning.
Jack Paulson added three hits, and Johnny Eagan and Tyler Kozlowski chipped in two apiece, as the Titans outhit the Pointers, 14-10. Eagan and Kozlowski have both reached base in 20 consecutive games.
Kozlowski laced a leadoff double in the 11th inning and came around to score the eventual winning run on a double by Paulson. The first five Titans reached base in the final inning, including Sam Schwenn, whose run-scoring single gave UW-Oshkosh an 8-6 lead.
The Titans capped the scoring with a bases-loaded walk by Eagan, a sacrifice fly by Brahier and a run-scoring infield hit by Radde as UW-Oshkosh won an extra-inning game over the Pointers for the first time since 2007.
UW-Stevens Point starting pitcher Ben Miller struck out the first two batters he faced before walking Eagan, who then advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Andy Brahier doubled home Eagan with the game's first run, Radde scored Brahier with a single, and Kozlowski capped the Titans' four-run first inning with a homer to left field.
UW-Oshkosh starting pitcher Jacob Pohlman retired six of seven batters over the second and third innings before running into trouble in the fourth, when he walked two batters and hit another to load the bases with one out. UW-Stevens Point's Tyler Thomka then delivered a bases-loaded double to conclude Pohlman's outing.
UW-Oshkosh relief pitcher Jack Tierney gave up a single that scored Thomka with the tying run but escaped the inning by inducing a double-play ground ball.
The Pointers took a 6-4 lead on Iloncaie's two-run homer off Tierney in the fifth inning, but the Titans rallied to tie the score following a two-out, run-scoring double by Taylor Grimm in the sixth and Radde's one-out RBI single in the eighth.
UW-Oshkosh relief pitchers Scott Gorsuch, Lucas Gregory and Noah Polcyn combined to pitch the final six innings in scoreless fashion.
Gorsuch got the first out of the sixth inning before Gregory pitched the next 1.2 frames and Polcyn the final four. Polcyn, making his second career pitching appearance, allowed just one hit and struck out four batters without issuing a walk to earn his first career win.
Iloncaie, Jordan Carlson and Kyle Mrozinski each had a pair of hits for the Pointers.
Nathan Mulzer (0-2) was charged with the loss after allowing two runs on three hits and two walks in two-plus innings pitched.
Each of the Pointers' four pitchers allowed runs as Miller gave up five scores during the first six innings, Beau Zeihen one run in two innings and Spaeth three runs in the 11th inning.
In Sunday's first game, UW-Stevens Point's Derek Kawlewski (1-3) pitched a four-hit, complete-game victory.
Kawlewski worked around a pair of UW-Oshkosh runners in scoring position during the second inning en route limiting the Titans to just four singles, three walks and one hit batter. He finished UW-Stevens Point's second shutout of the year with six strikeouts.
The Pointers backed Kawlewski's pitching gem with a two-run sixth inning and single runs in the fourth and fifth frames.
Mrozinski hit a solo home run in the fourth inning. UW-Stevens Point increased its lead to 3-0 with a pair of unearned runs, and Thomka capped the scoring with an RBI infield single in the sixth inning.
UW-Oshkosh starting pitcher Jesse Sustachek suffered the loss after ceding four runs (one earned) on four hits in seven innings. He walked three batters and struck out two.
Sustacheck and UW-Oshkosh reliever Matt Wiechmann, who pitched a scoreless eighth inning, held UW-Stevens Point to five hits. However, UW-Oshkosh committed five errors and left eight runners on base.
Brahier paced the Titans with two hits while Mrozinski had a pair of hits to lead the Pointers.
UW-Oshkosh plays at Ripon College on Tuesday (April 11).
Photo by Jennifer Zuberbier